Thirteen albums down the road from "Little Earthquakes," Tori Amos hit the charts at No. 7 earlier this year with "Unrepentant Geraldines," a return to pop (or what passes for pop in a world as esoteric as the one her music occupies) after five years of focusing more on the classical side of her musical interests and writing a musical, "The Light Princess."

We caught up with Amos to talk about the new album, the musical, turning 50 last summer, young artists copping her style on piano and how her 14-year-old daughter, Tash, inspires her to do better than "good for 50."

Question: This is your first pop release, if that's the word you'd use, since "Abnormally Attracted to Sin" in 2009. What impact do you think those intervening projects had on the creation of this album?

Answer: The last five years have been a wild ride for me as a writer. "Midwinter Graces" is, of course, the starting of that group. "Night of Hunters" and then "The Light Princess." That's such a demanding project. There are 33 songs that tell the story. So I think the five years kind of culminate, if I'm honest, with that, whereas "Geraldines" was more my little side project to survive "The Light Princess," which is coming out next year. That project will have taken seven years by the time the album comes out.

So these songs (on "Geraldines") were what I call my little secret sonic selfie, just to make sense of it all. They were my Xanax and the well you sit by and cry, a "nobody likes me, think I'll go eat worms"-type thing. These are the songs that would find me in those moments and I would run and crawl into them sort of as my — what do you call it? — panic room.

Q: Do you find that you brought anything to these songs from the other projects?

A: Narrative. Because I think the storytelling is quite clear. A different type of storytelling than "Abnormally Attracted to Sin," which might be emotional and a bit more abstract. The stories here are very clear. Similar to how "Little Earthquakes" was quite direct and how "Under the Pink," in its way, was direct. I think the narrative was very influenced by "The Light Princess." Also, how we worked on "Geraldines" was from the midrange out. Instead of the bass and drums and rhythm first, we figured out vocal, piano, guitars first. So it's not the low end taking up the space. And then we dragged Tash into it, and it became kind of a family record.

Q: I knew your daughter sang on the album. Are you saying she was more involved than that?

A: She was a bit of a muse on this record. She, at 13, had a lot to say. And one of the things she said was, "Whatever you're doing on the record, however you are expressing it, the bottom line is you've gotta go out there and take that piano and prove to yourself that you can play a show. And don't be good for 50." She knew I was wrestling with 50. She said, "Don't be good for 50. You have to be as good as you were at 30. Mom, you can't keep doing this forever. You won't be able to turn upside down on the piano like an octopus in 6-inch heels at 84. Go do it now."

Q: In "16 Shades of Blue," you sing, "There are those who say I am now too old to play." Is that a feeling you've encountered as an artist?

A: I would think that people think that I can't kick it as heavy as a 25-year-old. And I can see how that can happen because of Tash taking me by the hand and saying, "Look at all these other piano players in the world that are doing your moves, Mom." I would say, "They're doing those moves fine." And she would say, "Yeah, they're doing the moves fine. They're your f---ing moves. Don't make me unproud, Mother."

You kind of go, "I don't need to prove anything, Tash." And she just looked at me and said, "You need to prove it to yourself. And then to me. I'm not having it that you can't keep up with those chicks on the piano."

And I needed that because the record label — I love the guys at Universal, but I said, "Why are there more record deals for people 50 and up for men than women?" And they said, "Supply and demand." I said, "That sucks." And they said, "Then, go change the demand." So I thought, OK, I have to rethink my path over the mountain.

Q: Do you find that there are many artists out there writing about life from the perspective of a person who's reached 50? The Rolling Stones are 70, but when they do write, they're not addressing the world from that perspective.

A: And I don't know if we want them to. I want them to keep pretending they're 30. But they have a different path over the mountain. I made a career of talking about things that resonate with all ages. It can't just resonate with 49-year-olds. Tash looked at me and said, "Jesus Christ, 49-year-olds aren't the only ones having to look at a looming age." And I started to see that 17-year-olds are freaking out because they were having to pick a career. And 20-somethings were really freaking out because they owe $150,000, and they can't find a job in the field they went to school for. And early-30s chicks are really freaking out because they're thinking, "Jesus Christ, if I stay on this trajectory, I'm gonna be vice president in five or six years. But then it's wait a minute, kids, family, taking out time."

Q: Did taking that time out to have a family have an impact on your career?